Egypt tourism officials are hoping to encourage local teenagers to take up the tourism trade in an effort to prevent the region from suffering from the looming skilled labour shortage within industries which cater for travellers on Egypt holidays.

Egypt hotels in particular, are short of local skilled workers who can provide services and expertise in areas which are vital in order to successfully operate and provide adequate service for travellers on holidays in Egypt. The SOS Children’s Village on the outskirts of Nasr City is home to 80 orphaned youths up to the age of 18 years old and is undergoing refurbishments courtesy of the Ministry of Tourism and other tourism officials, The Egyptian Tourism Federation, The Egyptian Hotel Association and The Egyptian Travel Agents Association.

Children’s homes run by the International Children’s Charity in Alexandria and Tanta are also undergoing refurbishments this year as part of a social initiative by the tourism officials as they try to encourage teenagers to gain skills which can be used within the travel and tourism industry.

As the number of travellers taking Egypt holidays increases, the number of skilled labourers in the hospitality industry will have to double in the next decade in order to keep up with the demands of the growing tourism sector.

Ahmed El-Nahas, chairman of the Egyptian Tourism Federation, said:

“There is a huge [ongoing] expansion of hotels in Egypt, but there are very few schools or universities that graduate people in the tourism industry, unfortunately. If you double the number of hotels and there are still very few graduates, we have a problem.”

One reason for the lack of skilled workers available is that many students and graduates do not see the hospitality sector as particularly glamorous long hours and low pay.

Maged Hosny, a youth employment activist, said:

“There is an educational problem in Egypt where the popular and prestigious faculties don’t match the real demands of the labor market. “[Students] don’t know what they’re going to learn and what they will do afterwards and there is no counseling for graduates to explain career paths in each field and what kind of training they need.”

Many of the hotels which offer more luxury Egypt holidays for their guests provide dedicated in-house training for their staff while some of the lower rated hotels do not have the opportunities to employ skilled hospitality workers and the hotel standards and services are lower because of this.

Egypt tourism officials are hoping that by encouraging the teenagers from these villages, the number of skilled workers will rise in time for the potential existence of 3,200 large hotels and resorts in the country by 2015.